The Jak and Daxter games have always had racing sections in them.
So it made sense that they eventually got their very own kart racer.
Originally released in 2005 on the PS2, Jak X, or Jak X Combat Racing as it's known in
America, sees our heroes and their friends forced to race in a deadly tournament.
After being poisoned during the reading of the will of the late villain Krew, who died
in Jak II...
...the only way they're getting an antidote
is to win the championship.
So,the race is on.
But is a Jak and Daxter game where you ONLY race, still a worth while entry into the series?
Let's find out!
Here's what I think about Jak X.
#1. Racing's Got Its Highs and Lows
The greatest thing about the racing in this
game, is the speed.
Blasting around tracks at a breakneck pace, constantly getting turbo boosts from a variety
of different methods, like drifting or picking up blue containers, means you always feel
like you're moving fast.
So fast in fact, that one slip up, or one dip in concentration can send you flying into
a wall.
It's this thin line between in and out of control that puts you on the edge of your
seat, eyes glued to the screen, making tiny adjustments to stay on track and not giving
your brain a chance to rest until you've finished the race.
It's this knife edge between winning and losing that really holds your attention.
Of course, it's not just bad driving that can cause explosions into a painful crash
of carnage.
There's also plenty of weapons to sink your teeth into, whether it's the yellow ones,
which are more offensive like machine guns, or rockets.
Or the red ones, which are defensive, like oil slicks or mines.
These weapons are really a big game changer, and in fact, it's easy to argue that some
of em are perhaps a little too powerful.
Especially when you're sitting in first place, because then, you feel like a big of target
is stuck on your back.
The better you're doing the more vulnerable you feel, as the difference between first
and last maybe just one electrical peace maker, which is a missile that homes in on whoever's
winning the race.
If you're going to win, you're going to have to learn to recover from being hit by this thing.
A lot.
The other five A.I. racers all have a similar skill level, and so will often cluster together
tightly.
This means that one mistake, and it's more than likely you'll be pushed right back to
sixth position, as everyone overtakes you.
Of course, on the flip side, the weapons can be useful, if you've got some catching up
to do.
Being at the back gives you an increased chance of getting the most powerful of weapons, like
the super nova, which kills all drivers in front of you.
It also means that you're never fully out of a race and can always regain your lead.
But at the same time, it does make a lot of your wins come down to getting the right weapons
and using them at the right time, rather than good old driving skill.
This takes away some of the satisfaction of a win.
It may not matter how well you drive throughout the race, but instead, it often comes down
to those last few seconds, whether you win or lose.
Is it exciting?
You bet!
But also sometimes frustrating.
Tracks take place across various locations from all of the Jak and Daxter trilogy, and
are often quite long and consist of two, or even just one lap.
But various segments will repeat themselves on different levels and so you do start to
learn all of the best techniques and best angles to take corners at, as you play through
the same parts repeatedly.
You definitely start to have sections that you look forward to and know you can do some
catching up on, but also parts that you begin to dread, knowing that you haven't quite mastered
them yet.
#2. Adventure Mode
As well as racing, the story mode of Jak X,
or adventure mode as it's called, has you doing all kinds of different events.
This stops you from ever getting bored, as you're always changing what you're doing and
driving in a different way.
For example, in rush hour, you have to chain together head on collisions with other cars
coming at you in the opposite direction.
This is probably the hardest mode to do well in, with some extremely high targets to hit.
You may have to do time trials, whilst collecting pick ups that freeze time for a brief period.
Or you may have to do arena events, like death matches, or capture the flag type modes.
If you win an event, you get a gold and three medal points.
Coming second you get two and coming third you just get the one.
You need to achieve a certain number of medal points to unlock new events.
You may at some point need to start to go back to events you've already done, only this
time, do better, and get a better position than before, extra medal points and so you
can unlock the next race or the next event.
Eventually, you qualify for the Gran Prix- three tough races, where your score in each
is added together and totalled at the end to see who wins.
So it's added pressure then, by the time you get to the third race, because no matter how
well you did in the first two, one screw up, and you may have blown your chances at winning
the title and so have to start again from race one.
Performing in events also rewards you with precursor orbs, which you can use to customise
and tune up your car.
It's a nice way to really get you attached to your vehicle, as you eventually craft your
perfect kart.
#3. Exhibition Mode
The exhibition mode is your typical way of
playing a one off event, with whichever character you like, on whatever map you want and in
single player or split screen.
It would have been nice if they added an online mode, so you could play against people across
the globe... but, hang on!
The original PS2 version DID have online multiplayer!
The PS4 version has stripped it away.
Now, to be fair it does make sense- realistically, how many people will be playing Jak X online
in 2018 and for how long?
Is it really worth setting up servers for it?
But at the same time, it is a little disappointing not to be able to race and destroy people
from around the world.
The game has been up-rendered to 1080p and has got added trophies, but still, the online
multiplayer is one feature that the PS2 had, but the PS4 does not.
Jak X isn't just a spin off game.
In many ways it's the fourth story of Jak and Daxter.
With entertaining cut scenes, new characters and even some old characters getting more
to do here, than they did in some of the other games.
It's a nice world to get back into.
Sure the racing has a few balancing issues, but it's still a blast to play.
And that music, with a mix of rock and plenty of drums, really gets the fuel flowing.
It reels you in making you constantly want just one more race.
Thanks for watching.